PGH

The loco at Bersham did not "hang around" waiting for empty wagons. As the thread on Bersham describes, it merely moved out of the way during its normal shunting operations - which were immediately adjacent to the main line - to allow the BR loco to back the empty wagons into the yard.

Quote from Post #111: "KATHARINE was built by Manning Wardle in 1914 for the Bridgewater Collieries system, one of only three industrial 0-8-0 tank locos used in the UK"

Yes, will appear here shortly and thanks for your comments

Not really, Larry, just a couple leaning out of the coach window in the rain at Broughton & Bretton Station and somewhere else I'm not sure about. I didn't think they were worth posting. The photos in this post might be of more interest to members, certainly a bit more colourful. Torside Level Crossing on the Woodhead Line in July 1979. 76008 + (76029 ?) on a loaded MGR coal train. 76054 light engine Dinting Viaduct in July 1980 with an eastbound mixed freight train Westbound EMU crossing eastbound MGR empties Torside Crossing again, in July 1980 with 76025 + ? on a loaded MGR coal train. The 'tide' seems to be out in Torside Reservoir. 76022 with BR lion and wheel emblem leading 76013 on eastbound coal empties 76047 light engine The BR Woodhead Line was not the only overhead electrified line to occupy the Longdendale Valley. The Manchester Corporation Waterworks 3ft gauge line on the opposite side of the valley was electrified in 1904 and worked by a small 4-wheel centre cab loco. It was replaced by a diesel locomotive in 1949 and the overhead wiring removed about 5 years later. The chassis of the electric loco was used to build a workmen's coach and the body dumped beside the exposed upper reaches of the line as a shelter, pictured here in 1965.

The Chester to Denbigh and Ruthin line was visited in April 1962, just 10 days before its closure to passengers on the 28th of that month. It was a miserable wet day, memorable for trapping my thumb when closing the carriage door at Mold Station - no doubt the resulting language was as blue as the end of my thumb. Apparently it wasn't a great day for taking photos and the following four are the only ones just about acceptable for public viewing. Denbigh Station, view looking south with the 2 coach Ruthin train at the far end of the platform. The substantial station building with its spire was originally the headquarters of the Vale of Clwyd Railway, the first railway to reach Denbigh from a junction with the Chester & Holyhead line at Foryd. 75014 running round its train at Ruthin Station Ruthin Station with 75014 42288 at Denbigh on a Chester train The Prestatyn to Dyserth line was closed to goods traffic in September 1973 and the following two photos were taken about 2 years later. View of Dyserth Yard from the overbridge. The line branching to the right led to the limeworks sidings. Note the unusual (?) part interlaced sleepers on the point in the foreground. Dyserth Limeworks. By 1975 the limekilns were disused and the standard gauge sidings had been lifted. The sidings were shunted by a farm type tractor fitted with timber 'buffer beams'. The limeworks was fed with limestone from the adjacent quarry by a 2'-7" gauge line, which crossed the main road on a viaduct and terminated on the gantry to the left of the kilns.

Chris, Generally the NCB only used brakevans where they had running powers over BR lines. Offhand I can think of only two examples where they were used on internal NCB lines - Littleton Colliery (Staffs) and Granville Colliery (Shrops), the latter only after a runaway and derailment. Both those locations involved fairly lengthy lines with steep but varying downhill gradients for loaded trains. There may well have been other examples, but the use of brakevans especially for shorter distances would have been avoided as it would have involved extra shunting, nice for the modeller but not welcomed by the prototype crews. The normal practice in the case of your example would probably be to pin the descending full wagon brakes down and if the gradient was particularly severe restrict the load to a small number of wagons. With regard to the siding layout, an additional siding behind the station as suggested in Post #10, with or without runround facilities, would be better, giving one siding for empties and one for fulls, so that the exchange could take place there rather than in the station area. The procedure then could be - the main line loco arrives with empties; runs round in the station loop; backs the train out and propels it up the colliery connection, still with the brakevan attached, into the empties siding; uncouples from the brakevan and couples on to the fulls in the other siding; draws the fulls out, picks up the brakevan from the rear of the empties and departs. During this operation it could be held in the sidings while a passenger train arrives in the station. This is far simpler than your suggestion in Post #5, and the prospect of an operation involving the BR loco having to wait for the NCB loco to arrive, or vice versa, would be most unlikely in the prototype.

No Larry, its never been published, this is its first public viewing. (I should have taken more at the time in colour) In November 1963 a week's work surveying a quarry at Buckfastleigh gave the opportunity to explore the Ashburton Branch between its closure by BR and its takeover by the Dart Valley Railway, and I was able to walk the section of line now occupied by the new dual-carriageway A38 Road. Ashburton Station The loco shed had already been adapted for alternative use The bridge under the old A38 road outside Ashburton, view towards Ashburton Buckfastleigh Station, view towards Totnes

A parcels unit on permanent way duty and trailing lengths of rail passing the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway station at Portmadoc in May 1983 Aberdovey Signal Box in August 1962 7801 at Moat Lane Junction in August 1962 75033 on the down Cambrian Coast Express at Newtown on 25th February 1967. This loco worked the last up steam hauled CCE a few days later on 4th March 1967. 75033 leaves Newtown, blowing off vigorously 7819 at Welshpool on a northbound train. In the distance a Standard shunts an oil tank wagon and a flat loaded with farm machinery.

Next a few odd photos around the Cambrian: 80087 taking water at Afonwen c1959 42446 on a Bangor train at Afonwen in August 1962 2214 with a short goods train on a wet day at Portmadoc in 1960 6333 at Portmadoc on the same day in 1960 It was nearly 50 years later before I took my next photo on Portmadoc BR Station - another 2-6-0, 76079 on 'The Cambrian' in August 2009. Is this train also now a thing of the past ?

I dismissed this photo as being of poor quality, but it does make an interesting comparison with Larry's photo of the trackbed beyond Trawsfynydd. Taken in 1962 after closure of the line, the location is the same but a bit nearer to Trawsfynydd than the 2003 photo.

Manod Station in September 1962 with its small bay windowed station building and slightly subsided ground frame cabin, view towards Bala. The point led to the goods yard with two sidings. Tan-y-Manod in May 2001. Bottom right is the former transhipment platform for slate from the Craig Ddu Quarry and above it the site of the sidings, which led off the photo right to the loco shed and turntable. Just left of centre and after the 'S' curve is the stone viaduct following which the line curves round to cross the road climbing the hill, on a level crossing. On the mountainside in the left distance is the first incline of the former Rhiwbach Quarry Tramway; to the right on the skyline is a waste tip of the Llechwedd Quarry, the quarry itself being over the hill, and below that is the Votty and Bowydd Quarry waste tip; to the right again on the skyline is the Maenofferen Quarry waste tip and in front of that extending up the hillside to the right are the tips of the Diffwys Casson Quarry. Tan-y-Manod Viaduct View back towards Trawsfynydd from the level crossing. On the distant hillside to the right is the course of one of the Craig Ddu Quarry inclines, dropping down to the exchange sidings at Tan-y-Manod. After the level crossing the line passes under three road overbridges in Blaenau, the first having a cast girder with the inscription 'BRYMBO 1882' View the other way, towards Central Station, from under the same bridge The original Blaenau Ffestiniog Central Station building in 1960 Blaenau Ffestiniog Central in June 1963. At that date work was underway to connect the North and Central Stations and the temporary buildings visible in the distance between the signal cabin and the station building were provided for the construction works.

View of the station looking towards Trawsfynydd. The signal box entrance stairway was on this side hidden by the tree. View the other way towards Blaenau The south (Bala) end of the goods shed, by now the office had lost much of its slate cladding The north (Blaenau) end of the goods shed View towards Blaenau from just beyond the road underbridge at the Bala end of the station View of the underbridge for the Llan Ffestiniog to Trawsfynydd Road. The sign on the right was for a garage behind the camera on the left side of the road.

By 1978 most of the Llan Ffestiniog Station infrastructure was still intact although very derelict and the track had been reduced to a single through line, view towards Blaenau The platform side of the station building. The platform was 15ft wide in front of the building, comprising 131/2" (x 6" wide) edging blocks with a chequered surface, a 6" strip of concrete (except on the ramps) and the rest in bricks with the courses transverse to the length of the platform. The platform edge was approx 28" from the inside edge of the nearest rail and approx 34" above rail level. The village (or sunny) side of the station building The shelter on the up platform View from the station towards Trawsfynydd View from the station towards Blaenau. Interesting for modellers to note that the station platforms were built with stone walls, the station building with blue bricks, the signal box with yellow bricks and the goods shed with red bricks. The signal box with just the remains of its slate cladding on the end wall The signal box was 17'-71/2" long x 12'-2" wide over brickwork with its front face 6ft from the nearest rail

Llan Ffestiniog Station c1959, view towards Blaenau. Everything still neat and tidy, present and correct. The station building in 1962 after closure, everything still more or less intact but showing some signs of dereliction The signal cabin in 1962 The goods shed with its slate cladding to the office walls View back to the station, towards Bala, from opposite the goods shed. The stones in the foreground indicate where the drainage from the cess enters a pipe culvert under the track. Signal at the Blaenau end of the station

Bala to Blaenau Ffestiniog I first travelled on this line about 1958 and with a school friend made several trips, sometimes stopping off at intermediate stations, until its closure to passengers in January 1960. I think at times the two of us formed the majority of passengers on the single coach trains. At that time my photographic skills were severely limited and in any case the main interest then was the experience rather than recording the scene for posterity - that came later. So I can offer only two rather blurry images showing the trains, the remainder were mainly taken after rail services to Bala ceased. The nuclear flask trains and enthusiast special trains from the Conwy Valley line to Trawsfynydd in later years may be covered later in this topic. A Blaenau Ffestiniog train just west of Arenig Station c1959. This illustrates the bleak nature of the countryside around Arenig. The normal pannier tank and one coach passenger trains sometimes ran mixed at that time, as shown here, with a bulk cement wagon for the Tan-y-Grisiau Power Station construction contract. On another occasion my regular travelling companion talks to the driver (or fireman ?) at Blaenau Ffestiniog Central Station. Note the normal attire of this period for a schoolboy enthusiast - cap, mac (this was Blaenau Ffestiniog !) and school satchel over the shoulder for the sandwiches - this was pre the anorak era ! Blaenau Ffestiniog Central Station c1959, on a nice sunny day but alas without trains Trawsfynydd Station c1959. Unfortunately I managed to miss off probably the most interesting part of this scene - just visible on the left is the front of a pannier tank which was stabled with a coach in the lean to 'loco shed' extension on the goods shed. Trawsfynydd Station in April 1962 after closure of the line, view towards Blaenau From the same position looking the other way towards Bala

Closure of the line was complicated and the following information is quoted directly from the excellent Industrial Railway Society publication 'Industrial Locomotives of North Wales' : Llangollen to Dolgellau closed to freight 2.11.1964 Ruabon to Dolgellau passenger services were due for closure on 18.1.1965, however they ceased on 12.12.1964 due to flood damage near Llandderfel as also did the Llangollen to Trevor freight service. Passenger services were reinstated between Ruabon and Llangollen, and Bala and Dolgellau on 17.12.1964, then ceased as planned on 18.1.1965. Freight services between Llangollen and Trevor also resumed on 17.12.1964. Freight services between Ruabon and Llangollen closed on 1.4.1968. So the last part of the line didn't actually close until 1.4.1968 Demolition started from the flood damaged section in June 1968 heading east and reached Ruabon Junction in May 1969. It started west from the damaged section in July 1968 and reached Barmouth Junction in February 1969 There was a further complication mentioned in the Foxline publication on the line - 'Scenes from the past 9: Railways of North Wales - The Llangollen Line' , the line was originally closed to passengers on 2.11.1964 like the Llangollen to Dolgellau freight service, but passenger services were reinstated on 23.11.1964 due to the failure to provide alternative bus services

Continuing the Barmouth to Ruabon line: 75024 leaving Glyndyfrdwy on a Ruabon train in September 1963 Following final closure of the line track materials were sold to T.W.Ward and lifted in 1968/9. The track lifting gangs worked east and west from the flood damaged section at Llandderfel (between Bala Junction and Corwen) which caused the premature closure of the line as a through route in December 1964 Bala Junction in August 1968. The line to Dolgellau curves away to the left while the crane is completing the lifting of the Bala branch On the western section the contractors used an 0-4-0 diesel electric built jointly by Brush and Beyer Peacock in 1958, hired from Brush's Loughborough Works where it had been used as one of the works shunters D5011 running round a tracklifting train at Llanuwchllyn Corwen Station in July 1968 - view towards Dolgellau with the tracklifting contractors loco parked in the distance On the eastern section the contractors used this Andrew Barclay 204hp 0-4-0 diesel mechanical originally supplied new to Lever Bros Port Sunlight in 1955 The Barclay loco crossing Berwyn Viaduct in November 1968

Greenhill Power Station -opened 1903 by Oldham Corporation, later CEGB. Its sidings were shunted by a Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0 fireless loco.

Moving on to the Barmouth to Ruabon line: Bala Junction August 1962 - 7821 on a Ruabon train taking water with the connecting train to Bala extreme right 7418 on arrival at Bala Station Bala Station with the coaches shunted out of the way to the other platform between trains View from the end of Bala Station platform towards Bala Junction, loco depot in centre distance to left of the double track line and the goods shed with its castellated end wall on the right 7414 being prepared at the loco depot 7414 ready to depart on a Wrexham train Llandrillo Station was about halfway between Bala Junction and Corwen 7414 on arrival at Wrexham General Station

No it doesn't, I don't think I ever reached Worcester by rail. A few 'odds and ends' from the Oldham Area: Oldham Mumps Station in 1960 - view towards Manchester with an ex L&Y 0-6-0 on shunting duties Royton Station in August 1962 - a rather badly composed view but hopefully of interest Royton Junction - view towards Oldham An ex L&Y signal at Royton Junction - view towards Rochdale The sign says it all The rather dilapidated Middleton Station

In August 1962 I travelled to Hereford for the day, but apparently found little of interest to photograph in Hereford itself - too "main line" - except for this view of 7031 on a London train and station pilot 5970 Henwick Station was the first station out of Worcester on the Hereford line, and I have no recollection at all of what the heck I was doing here. Perhaps the timetable didn't quite allow for a return trip from Hereford into Worcester itself. From Hereford I travelled down the Ross-on-Wye and Gloucester line as far as Fawley, which I found much more to my liking. The fireman of 2269 looks for the 'right away' on the Gloucester train. Fawley Signal Box was situated unusually part way along the platform The small and rather neat station building View of the station looking towards Hereford. The small goods yard was remote from the station and situated on the other side of the road overbridge. 6330 passing on a southbound freight. On the extreme left the signalman is returning to his box after exchanging the staff or token. The temptation here was to crop the photo down to the train but I think the details of the station building are perhaps of more interest. What strikes me about many of the station views at that period is how neat and tidy they were - luggage barrow and trolley neatly parked, no piles of luggage, crates or boxes, no milk churns, no weeds or litter. 4135 arriving at Fawley on a Hereford train 4135 at Hereford

In April 1962 I rode the Wellington to Much Wenlock line in single unit railcar and then from Buildwas Junction down the Severn Valley line as far as Bewdley. The railcar on arrival at Much Wenlock station - the station seating is a little unusual, or maybe indicates staff with plenty of spare time The station building was quite an attractive and complicated structure Much Wenlock goods yard with the loco shed in centre. The former line to Craven Arms passed the yard on the far side of the shed Goods train from Much Wenlock at Buildwas Junction. The Much Wenlock platform was at a higher level than the Severn Valley line platforms, the line to Shrewsbury being just visible on the far right next to the access road to the station. If I had taken this today I would probably have gone closer to the loco, but as taken it does contain some interesting detail - the lamp, the sign on a concrete post - Much Wenlock train one way/ Wellington train the other - and the gradient board fixed to the fence. Buildwas Junction station from the Severn Valley platform, view towards Bridgenorth. The Much Wenlock platform is above the wall behind the station building, the previous photo being taken from just opposite the right hand rear corner. Note the CEGB steel wagons in the sidings, the power station is on the opposite side of the Severn Valley line off the photo to the left Bridgenorth Station with the southbound train crossing ex GWR railcar W26 Bewdley Station, somewhat more deserted than you would find it today ! Tenbury Wells train arriving at Bewdley. I regret never managing a trip on that line, which closed to passengers later in 1962 Southbound goods train arriving at Bewdley

Do I have any photos of the last train at Wrexham ? - No, well not quite, I shall explain. I've been working out what I did on that last day, I didn't take any notes at that time apart from track layouts, and its over 50 years ago (I must have been very young at the time !) so I certainly can't remember, but from the sequence I took the photos this is apparently what I did. First I rode the train from Wrexham to Bangor-on-Dee and photographed it leaving; then I walked on to the Dee Bridge and photographed the makers plate; leaving the bridge at the Bangor end I photographed the bridge with the train heading for Wrexham; I must have then walked back to Wrexham calling at Pickhill Halt, Sesswick Halt, Marchwiel - photographed Ellesmere train and 3789; Hightown Halt - photographed Wrexham train (poor); Kingsmill Viaduct - photographed Ellesmere train (cock-up); then back at Wrexham (more photos) caught the next Ellesmere train, the next photos being taken in Ellesmere. At Ellesmere I 'laid over' between trains and the photos taken there get successively under exposed - I was using a camera limited with a fixed shutter speed of 1/60 sec - so I would guess it would be late afternoon and the light was fading, so I think the train I returned to Wrexham on would probably have been the last Ellesmere to Wrexham train. The next negative is so underexposed that it's difficult to make out any detail, just the skyline at Wrexham Central, vague outline of a loco and station lights - obviously a vain attempt to photograph the last train to Ellesmere virtually in the dark. Apparently the last train was strengthened to 4 coaches but I didn't ride it, as that would have involved a very circuitous route home. With regard to shunting the goods yard at Overton-on-Dee, there is a low wall behind the fence that marks the left hand (in the photo) boundary of the goods yard, which extends to the CWS factory alongside the headshunt. Just off the photo to the left is a ramp down (its on the negative which I cropped down slightly). I think this would have been a loading platform alongside the brickworks siding provided for the use of the factory site as a supply depot during World War II and thus, apart from the lifted brickworks siding, no other additional sidings were required. With all this traffic the yard must have been shunted by a loco which had to pass through the goods shed awning, and, according to the Oakwood Press book on the line, one driver recalled that during the War there were usually about 20 vans there and the yard was shunted by a 81XX class large prairie tank. I don't know how these things were arranged, but if the yard was shunted daily would it take longer to receive a van at the shed and have it empty/loaded as required ready for dispatch the following day ? If it wasn't it wouldn't be much trouble to place it out of the way in the siding behind the signal box while the yard was shunted. As to whether the yard was shunted by up or down trains, with two loop lines available it wouldn't make much difference as it would be possible to run round the train and then individual wagons as required.

The following photos were taken in April/May 1967 on the remaining freight only northern section of the Wrexham to Ellesmere line. The junction between the BR line (right), by then only extending as far as the Cadbury's Siding at Pickhill, and the Wrexham Trading Estate line (left). A solitary oil tank wagon sits in the loop on the latter line - top left of photo. The Wrexham Trading Estate Railway extended for a distance of about 4 miles from the junction and was originally provided to serve a Royal Ordnance Factory, which began production in 1940. The ROF occupied a large area, no doubt to minimise damage in case of an air attack, and an internal passenger service was operated calling at halts along the line. After the war the site was developed as an industrial estate, the railway being retained to serve the new factories. By 1960 rail traffic had ceased apart from the first ¾ mile to Maelor Gas Works worked by BR. In 1965 the track to the gas works was renewed, the remainder of the estate railway being removed shortly after. A notable event was the experimental working of a 9F with a block oil train to the gas works in July 1966. Freshly ballasted track about halfway along the loop line. The area on the right was once occupied by more tracks used to exchange traffic between the ROF and the Wrexham to Ellesmere line. One of the former platforms used for the ROF internal passenger service The terminus of the line at Maelor Gas Works

No Larry, there was no other bridge under the road. The track layout in 1962 is shown below: Excuse the rather crude sketch done at the time and it's opposite way round to the photos, i.e. to Ellesmere - top, to Wrexham - bottom. Also I think the loop points at the Ellesmere end of the station should actually be under the overbridge marked 'track'. Just off the photo to the left there was a brick and tile works served by a siding, but both the works and siding had gone by 1962. The short siding to the rear of the signal box served an end loading dock and originally a cattle dock (also gone by 1962). The CWS factory seems to have been built after 1930 (not shown on 6" OS of that edition). According to the Oakwood Press history of the line (The Wrexham & Ellesmere Railway by S.C.Jenkins & J.M.Strange 2004) 'Milk traffic was conveyed from a CWS milk depot at Overton in glass-lined milk tank wagons', so presumably they were loaded on the headshunt or perhaps a siding alongside. Additional sidings must have been provided there during World War II, when (quoting the above book again) 'an army storage and distribution depot was set up alongside the goods yard in a former factory'. I noted that the factory was derelict in 1962. It was later used as a brickworks and is now a timber yard. The shunting of the yard must have been quite complicated because of its layout when all these facilities were in operation.